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California illustrates power of manufacturing on State of MFG Tour 2019

CMTA welcomed the National Association of Manufacturers to California last week to highlight the state’s modern manufacturing industry as part of the fifth annual NAM State of Manufacturing Tour.

The tour collectively opened eyes, changed minds, and recruited new people to be a part of our industry, by elevating the people and companies at the core of manufacturers’ excitement for the future.

During the visit, CMTA's new president Lance Hastings and NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons and Manufacturing Institute Executive Director Carolyn Lee met with students, business leaders and local manufacturers to discuss the industry’s optimistic outlook for the future, the high-tech, high paying opportunities in modern manufacturing and the urgent need to recruit the next generation of manufacturers.

We began the two-day visit at world-famous candy manufacturer and CMTA member Jelly Belly Candy Company, where we got an up-close look at the candy making process and, of course participated in many tastings. (You can see one particular one here)

Timmons, Hastings and Lee then toured Bishop-Wisecarver, an automation solutions provider. Following the tour Bishop-Wisecarver President and CMTA and NAM Board member Pamela Kan hosted a workforce opportunities discussion on how manufacturing companies can champion science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education in the community to inspire the next generation of manufacturers. The day was closed out by a visit to Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, California, where the school’s robotics team discussed how STEM education is inspiring their future career aspirations (see student's excitement in 1 minute video here).

On Wednesday, Timmons, Lee and David Seaton, chairman and CEO of Fluor Corporation and NAM board chair started the day at Salesforce for a panel discussion with Achyut Jajoo, vice president of manufacturing, automotive, & energy industries at Salesforce and CMTA’s very own Lance Hastings. Business leaders from the San Francisco area heard from panel participants about how technology is transforming the manufacturing industry and the looming workforce crisis for California’s manufacturers.

“We’re at the next frontier of manufacturing in the United States. We’re leading in technological advances, such as artificial intelligence, robotics and augmented reality, that will actually spur job creation, boost wages and help us lift everyone up and leave no one behind,” said Timmons in his opening.

On workforce challenges later in the discussion, Hastings said, “We’re at this 3 dimensional crossroad between a workforce, the needs of a manufacturer and the fact that people aren’t looking at those 30 year careers. They might work in the same place for 10 or 20 years but their jobs are constantly changing and evolving. We need to be able to adapt our old model to the new millennial consumer workers, rapid innovation and a growing attrition of skilled workers.”

In total California was so excited to be a part of the NAM's State of Manufacturing Tour to help drive the powerful message of modern manufacturing and key priorities directly with people who will decide our future: students, educators, parents, manufacturers, business leaders, policymakers—and the press.

You can see some pictures below and you can watch the workforce discussion at Salesforce here. You can read an opinion centered around the Tour and manufacturing authored by Jay Timmons and Pamela Kan in Fox and Hounds here.